> Would you care to state (would anybody who knows care to state) why Chaosium
> gave up on quantifiable Free Will. I think I could make it work.
This is mere surmise, but I think the short answer is that they gave up on Free Will because they gave up on HeroQuest. Or at least, in hindsight, now that they've given up on both, this might as well be the case.
Firstly though, I assume that when Mike talks about a "quantifiable" Free Will, he has in mind a single, numeric value. This, I think, is what Chaosium "gave up on". The general concept has to be quantified in _some_ form, I'd agree, otherwise we either have some which i) Doesn't describe HeroQuesting, or ii) Isn't really a game mechanic. Or at least, this is true of attempting to describe cultures who subscribe to this idea of the gods and heroes having their will, freedom of action, slice it how you wish, in some such way.
Now, why _I_ incline against a Free Will "stat" is because I don't think it describes at least this quasi-Theyalan POV in the best way. For example, say I'm a Yelmalian, and I go on the Hill of Gold quest. Doing so is likely to constrain my subsequent freedom of action, in several ways, such as most obviously how I relate to Darkness (esp. ZZ), and to Storm (esp. Orlanth). Principally this really just locks me into the pattern of my religion further, since HoG is such a defining HQ for us Y-heads. But it doesn't reduce, I believe, my "generic" free will; I can still have either porridge or corn gruel for breakfast, according to whim; my choice of pizza toppings is unimpaired; if I performed _another_, unrelated HQ, such as one to hunt the Silver Fox, say, my freedom to act therein isn't limited. But in the HoG HQ, and the parts of my mundane and spiritual life it relates to, it certainly is. Among other things, it means I can't do the same Quest again, at the same "level"; I can still perform lesser, ritualistic versions; I can "up the stakes", and perform a "deeper" version. I may be able to perform some somewhat related Quest, but changing key elements. But that precise HQ is a Done Deal, and it can't be Undone, or Redone.
Mike also says:
> Well, I'd say that the gift-geas exchange is in fact a way of gaining
> HeroQuested powers without a) going on a HeroQuest or
Is this really a difference of Kind though, or just one of Degree? Joining a religion, and participating in a Worship ceremony are both small "heroquests" (in the broadest sense), and I think the same can be said of gifts and geases.
For example, the reason I don't wear a left greave is because in my initiation ceremony, I encountered a back-stabbing barbarian spirit who wrenched the one I was wearing off, before I defeated it and went on to encounter God, who blessed me with the ability to see in the dark.
> or b) sacrificing Free Will.
> You voluntarily accept restrictions to your Will so that your core
> capacity for making decisions doesn't fall. Note that your behaviour
> under the geas hasn't become mechanical: you can still go against the
> restriction but must accept the consequences if you do.
This is true, but the same may well be true of Will which has been "lost", "spent", or as Mike aptly put it, "Bound". Orlanthi don't think precisely that Orlanth _can't_ act, just that if he does (other than in the statutory prescribed ways), Extremely Bad Things happen. The cases are roughly analogous, thought the "geasa" are altogether different.
Humakti and Yelmalian geases may be atypical of these "HQ geasa"; the very fact they they're available to initiates without a "real" HQ, whereas for most cults they're not, is probably an indication that these are extermely ritualised and codified versions of the corresponding Quest. You walk the Path, and barring a big flub, you get the Gain and concomitant Pain. In a real, freeform, no- -barred HQ, they might get dumped on you in any and all permutations, depending most crucially on whether you Drink the Elixier without ever having Left the Path, or Crash and Burn en route.
> Hmm, perhaps when your Free Will drops you can no longer alter your
> traits....
Or more specifically perhaps, limits how much they could change in the "wrong" direction. Say, if my successful HoG quest means I need to maintain a Valorous of 21 and an Honourable of 18, _forever_. My Merciful, though, can still see-saw however much it likes, as can my Chaste. (Just wait until I perform the Disciplining Unfaithful Wives Quest, though.)
Redundant disclaimer: I don't know if this jibes with what anyone else whomsoever thinks, much less Chaosium.
Willfully,
Alex.
End of Glorantha Digest V4 #517
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End of Glorantha Digest V4 #519
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